School administrators, guidance teachers, teachers, parents and students opinions on secondary school students' school engagement in the distance education process (Izmir province example)

The main purpose of this research is to determine the opinions of school administrators, counselors, teachers, parents and students regarding the school engagement status of secondary school students in the Distance Education process, to reveal the problems experienced in this field and to develop solutions for these problems. The study was carried out in a qualitative dimension. The sub-objectives of the research; The place, importance and effect of the education program in influencing students' school engagement, students' school engagement in the distance education process, the positive and negative factors that affect students' school engagement in the distance education process, the students' willingness to learn in the distance education process, whether the students fulfill their responsibilities towards the school in the distance education process, what they do to increase the students' commitment to the school in the distance education process, and the school administrators, students' opinions, and teachers' opinions on what should be done to increase the students' commitment to the school in the distance education process. The study group of the research consisted of school administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, 5th, 6th graders, working in 9 secondary schools, which were determined as three good, three middle and three low level socioeconomically in Bornova district of Izmir province. It consists of students studying in 7th and 8th grades and their parents. The research is a qualitative research and phenomenology design was used. Participants were determined on a voluntary basis. Within the scope of the research, interviews were conducted with 18 school administrators, 9 guidance teachers, 27 teachers, 36 students' parents and 36 students. A semi-structured interview form was applied to the participants. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, it was concluded that if the education programs are student-centered and functional, it positively affects the students' school engagement. It was concluded that the distance education process caused a decrease in students' school engagement. Another result is that there are both negative and positive factors affecting students' school engagement in the distance education process. The results of students' willingness to learn in the distance education process were divided into two different categories. In the first category, it was concluded that the students' desire to learn increased during the distance education process, and the students' desire to learn decreased in the second category during the distance education process. It is seen that the opinions regarding the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the students towards the school in the distance education process are divided into two different categories. In the first category, it was concluded that some students fulfill their responsibilities towards the school and accordingly, these students will have a high level of commitment to the school. In the second category, it was concluded that some students did not fulfill their responsibilities towards the school and accordingly, these students would have less commitment to the school. It was concluded that in the distance education process, in line with the opinions of school administrators, guidance teachers, teachers, parents and students, they carried out studies and activities to increase students' commitment to the school. It was concluded that school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers, parents and students offered close suggestions regarding what should be done to increase students' commitment to the school in the distance education process. In the light of these results, suggestions were made such as eliminating the inequalities in terms of opportunities that students have in the distance education process, organizing activities for students to gain responsibility, self-control and learning responsibility by providing parent-teacher cooperation in the distance education process, and organizing online activities reflecting the school culture in the distance education process.